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Oh dear. Applejack’s my favorite of the Mane6, yet I somehow get wary whenever I see an episode centered around her. Crying shame!

But I finally got to draw best pony in this chibi style, so I’m not really complaining. :D

🍎 SYNOPSIS 🍎
Rarity has an upcoming fashion show and chooses Applejack (of all ponies) to be a judge, rationalizing that her inherently honest nature would do serve well in inspecting the three promising contestants. With fashion not exactly being her bag of oats, Applejack reluctantly agrees to it. At first, her criticisms of the contestants’ fashion designs start off understandable – she’s a practical pony and wants to instill a bit of this in the designs. However, she soon goes overboard and becomes brutally honest, causing controversy among the fashion experts. AJ may just learn that honesty may not always be the best policy.

🍎 IMPRESSIONS AND STUFF 🍎
Aww, we start off with a cute little Rarispike moment! Spike’s crush on Rarity is just as endearing as ever. Any excuse to spend time around her, right? And there’s another nice moment of character development in their relationship. I always noticed in the past that Rarity (even if unintentionally) tended to take advantage of Spike a bit and have him go out of his way on her behalf. But the small gesture of her quickly gathering all the fallen fliers rather than having him do it all was something I took note of. I love the little details. ❤

Nice to see Rarity’s come a long way in her fashion career. Her hosting a competition for up-and-coming talent is very sweet, but also shows that she’s advanced to the point where she can mentor and bring in new designers. It also, of course, calls back to her generous nature by having the winner get to display their designs in her thriving boutique. I’m so proud of fashion horse! ;u;

Riiggghhttt. I’m with Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Spike and pretty much the entire fanbase when it comes to Rarity’s baffling decision for a fourth judge. I understand she was thinking along the line of Applejack’s honest opinion being valuable and free of bias. Having someone who can instill practicality in fashion (because Lord knows some designs can be a bit too wild and even hazardous) isn’t a bad call. But AJ’s made absolutely no secret of mainstream fashion being beyond her understanding, so it’s still a confusing choice on Rarity’s part. It definitely comes off as a forced way to get Applejack to be a fashion judge. AJ herself made a much stronger argument with the fact that she’s too practical early on, so I feel Rarity just ignored this valid point to drive the plot. :/

D'awww, Apple Bloom wants to wear a signature hat like her big sister! That’s precious.

And Coco Pommel’s mentioned to be coming along in her own career. I wonder if they’ll have her get so good at her job that she becomes an unexpected rival for Rarity? I’m calling it now!

Hoity Toity and Photo Finish make a welcome return! And we got to see Photo’s eyes for what I think is the first time? Pretty purple! They’re both as dramatic and expressive as ever and I love it. It’s great fun seeing them work off each other: they get along well but are still set in their views of fabulousness. Is it bad that I kinda ship them a little after this canon interaction? :‘3

At first, I was firmly on AJ’s side. Not only had she warned Rarity about her practical sense of fashion potentially leading to problems down the road, but she also made very valid points on a lot of the presented designs. I found myself giggling at her awkward, but honest assessment of the disco-ball outfit. Honestly, I’ve seen some fashions that really WERE that outrageous and I couldn’t fathom why it would be considered viable. She didn’t want to offend or cause any conflict, but she had every right to call out a lot of these problems, at least in how dysfunctional these outfits would be. Yeah, a dress that drags on the ground, no matter how pretty, is going to be hurt in the long run. And if that design by Inky with all the buttons was to be worn by anyone besides a unicorn, wouldn’t that be too much effort to put on? It was also lots of fun seeing her try to comprehend the designs and fashion experts, it was all so beyond her. When she began expressing her opinions on the contestants’ work, she quickly realized that her words didn’t go over well. I mean, Rarity had so many opportunities to see the warning signs, so I can’t feel TOO bad for her when things eventually went as badly as they did. >__>

That Big Lipped Alligator Moment of Rarity rocking out to relieve her stress was HILARIOUS. Pinkie’s reaction matched mine. XD

Of course, you know they were going to make Applejack derail into brutal honesty. What started as understandable criticisms/concerns soon turned into her being extremely domineering and unwilling to budge. This got so bad that she purposefully ruined one of the contestant’s hard work just to satisfy her own view of what fashion should be. Mind you, many of her opinions were valid and kinda called out the silliness of the other characters (like the belts that looked identical). But her way of saying it was totally uncalled for, ignored all the hard work and creativity the contestants poured into their entries, and was completely uncompromising. She definitely crossed a line by outright insulting the fashion industry in front of those in it. I can understand going a bit too far in your criticisms, but this came off as a little OOC for Applejack. Looking at many past episodes, AJ has proved to be a very considerate, warm, and easy-going mare who would know better than to just… behave the way she did here. It’s not to say she doesn’t have flaws (in fact, I see her brutal honesty believable on some level), but being a completely unapologetic, insensitive jerk just isn’t one of them, no matter how much she felt she was “just being honest”. Just put yourselves in the other ponies’ position, and I’m sure you’d all understand why they refused to deal with AJ any longer than they already had. Maybe I’m a bit biased, but I think it’s hard to argue that the writers didn’t frame AJ as being this way for the sake of the lesson. It could’ve been done better without making her into a total cow. She is extremely stubborn, but this could have manifested in a more believable way, is all I’m saying.

Strawberry Sunrise got an unexpected cameo and voice-over, but served the purpose of showing AJ how it feels to confront someone with a stubborn, blunt opinion. I wonder if Strawberry really felt that strongly about apples, or if Rarity just put her up to it somehow? Seems awfully convenient that she knows both a pony who’s life revolves around apples, and a pony who thinks they’re the worst fruit in Equestria. But she served as a way for AJ to realize that her opinion on fashion wasn’t the issue, but that she took for granted how much effort goes into it and that she was being downright hurtful in her critiques. What made her apologies to the fashion ponies stick out was that she didn’t actually change her opinion about the fashion industry (she still doesn’t get the appeal of it, nor understand the trends). But her being respectful of the people who do love it was important, and her acknowledging there’s value in the hard work and love they put into it, same as with her line of work. It showed that your opinion isn’t necessarily wrong (most of the time), and that you don’t need to conform. But common decency and willingness to at least consider other views goes a long way in being harmonious with others.

Once AJ’s personality was back to normal, it was cute to see her help out each of the contestants. She even started to understand the way they thought and went with it without complaint (like with Inky Rose). She also went out of her way to fix everything, making for a sweet reconciliation (another one??) with Rarity. While I get a bit tired of the many episodes devoted to their dynamic (I like it just fine, but it’s pushing other pair-ups into the background), it was still nice. And while it might feel like a cop-out for all three of the contestants to win, I felt it made perfect sense with AJ being the deciding vote: she knew firsthand how much effort and work each of them put in, so her choice was understandable. Plus, I secretly wanted them all to win anyway! All three of them were fun minor characters.

The ending was cute and priceless. Applejack is really taking her lesson about being careful with her honesty to heart, but she’s assured that it’s still okay to be open with her true feelings. I just love apple horse. ;u;

And while I did feel sympathy for Rarity, as I said before, she outright ignored all logical reasons to not choose Applejack. So I felt a lot of what happened was somewhat deserved on her part. She still had a right to call AJ out and to give her a taste of her own medicine, but it doesn’t change the fact she behaved really obliviously.

Pinkie Pie wasn’t unwelcome here, don’t get me wrong. But… didn’t she seem completely unnecessary? Sure, she appeared every now and then for the more needed characters to vent to and had a few funny moments (particularly her reaction to AJ being a fashion judge), but it was sort of awkward seeing her serve no real purpose.

I really loved all three of the contestants. Lily Lace was downright hilarious with her dramatic Valley Girl accent, but she was still a sweet and very creative mare with a flair for pretty, delicate designs. Star Streak had a cool voice and a taste for the more abstract concepts and I ship him a bit with AJ how did that happen. Inky Rose so reminded me of Wednesday Adams and I loved it, plus she had a unique body type to boot. As different as the three of them were, they got along in friendly competition and each had an admirable dedication to their work, which Applejack ultimately had to respect and admire herself. Very enjoyable minor characters, once again.

🍎 OVERALL OPINION/SCORING 🍎
🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Initially, I was going to give this episode a 3-star average. Applejack’s characterization took an unbelievable nosedive. I could buy her being unknowingly blunt, but she sensed early on that her critiques didn’t go over well. I can understand that Rarity’s urging pushed her a bit far, but it was still jarring to see Applejack be so harsh and close-minded when it came to the three contestants’ visions. And Rarity’s unusually stubborn choice to insist on Applejack being a judge in the first place is hard to swallow as well, as it didn’t make any sense considering how well she knew the farmer. I could even see RAINBOW DASH being a more reasonable pick! XD

However, there were more things in this episode’s favor than bad. Once Applejack learned the lesson of not being a disrespectful jerk when expressing her opinions, she did all she could to own up to her hurtful words and fix the mess she had made. The reappearance of minor characters – plus the addition of new and enjoyable ones – was also a lot of fun to see. Finally, the moral that having a different opinion isn’t inherently a bad thing – just the way you express it and your intent/reasoning – was welcome

So, after giving it a few re-watches, it’s earned four stars easily. Not my favorite portrayal of AJ, but when she was in-character, it was well-done. Season 7 remains amazing. ✨

Upvotes at import: 108 | Stars at import: 72
Posted previously at: 2017-07-22T07:46:02